@steven2ss,
I understand that feeling, but I've never been one to think inherently "medication=bad". To me it's really no different than a diabetic needing insulin, their bodies are malfunctioning in a certain way and medication helps overcome that. The medicine and my ADD are similar to me, my body is malfunctioning in a certain way and the medication helps overcome that.
I understand other people feeling differently, especially if they had bad side effects (I've never had much problems with it other than how stupidly difficult it is to actually get a hold of due to government red tape.), but I'm at least at peace being on it myself. Yeah, it's frustrating that other people/countries don't recognize the good it does for some people and instead choose to focus on how it can be abused, but I've said it before and I'll say it again and again, the medicine saved my life. Period. I would have never gotten through high school without it. I'd be a HS drop out with no ability to work any sort of job at that level, but also not quite fall into the "disability" category since ADD isn't recognized even if it is severe.
I've even been off it for an extended time due to a move into a new state and new regulations on medication causing a huge headache for me getting a refill. It was not a great time for me. My work performance plummeted, and this was only a crappy min wage job I had after I just graduated college. I've yet to find my "real" job, but I can only imagine when I have actual job responsibility how inept I would be without medication.
Different folks different strokes really, some are able to cope and adapt non medicinally, but others just plain aren't. I genuinely feel I'm in the latter category.